I need opinions please.

[tink5]

We were thinking about becoming Disney vacation Club members. Does anyone know if its worth it when you go on a cruise or one of there hotels. We're still on the fence with this so any input would help. Thanks.

 

[daisy112878]

My parents are DVC members. They actually brought enough points for the whole family to go every other year together. They brought into Beach Club Villas. And the whole family includes my mom and dad, my sister, brother-in-law, nephew (7 years old), niece (4years old) and me and my husband. Our first trip home was Dec. 2003. It was so much fun and we loved the villas. Our next trip is planned for July 9-16, 2005. My mom just told me that the whole DVC thing will be paid for my then and they have already gotten so much out of it. My parents looked into timeshares at the beach and mountain homes but decided that Disney offered the best available package for them. They are thinking about all of us going on a cruise sometime in 2007 instead of going to WDW but that's still in the air.

 

[Muushka]

We also own DVC (at VWL). In answer to your cruise question, some will say it is worth it to cruise on points and others (like me) will say it is not good use of points. Points can be rented out at 10+ per point. If you add up how many points it takes for a certain cruise and figure out if you sold them, you would see. But it can be a hassle to rent out points, which is why some people use points to cruise. (don't forget to add the $75 service fee to using points to cruise when comparing).

The best use of points are at the DVC resorts, which are at WDW (OKW, BWV, VWL, BCV and SSR) and Vero Beach and Hilton Head. If you use them at any other WDW resort you pay a high price (in points) for accomodations which (in my opinion) are not as nice as the DVC resorts. Unless you have your heart set on AK or GF, in which case you will still pay the price.

This is a good question for the DVC boards DVC boards Good luck with your decision, there are many choices to be made at this point (where to buy, resale or Disney....)

 

[MarkRG]

Exactly right, both ways. Depends on how you view the points.

On an absolute dollars and cents thing, you are better off cruising on cash.

On a 'this is my prepaid vacation' view, the use of points for a cruise is not too far out there.

We've done it both ways so I can't say which is better. I know in raw cash value it costs us more to use points, but the points are paid for when the real cash is too low to cover a cruise.

As far as using points in DVC resorts? There is no better value on property, by far. Just wish we had done it a lot sooner.

 

[tink5]

Thanks everyone for your help. Muushka, thanks for the information about the dvc boards, I had no idea there was one. It has really helped.

 

[SueEllen]

I'm going to move this over to the DVC boards so that you can get some more answers.

Sue Ellen

 

[pogopossum]

my opinion is that we should have bought sooner thasn we did and we ended up buying more points two years later. we always use our points to cruise instead of cash, just find it easier, and we consider our our points as pre-paid vacations as far as budgeting goes. but as ricardo said during pitch on the magic, if your idea of vacation is to go stay with aunt minnie at her house then dvc is probably not for you, but if you like staying in top notch resorts and go to disney vacay at least every other year then you should probably buy because you are already spending the money on your rooms.

 

[MAGICX2]

Checked out Markrg's MH pics in a reply. I am new to this, only my second post. Just wondered if this is some kind of members only party or what. What is this and what other types of members only benefits do you get with DVC? Any and all answers helpful trying to make decission about joining. Thanks!!!

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

tink5 -- A lot of it really depends on how often you go to WDW and what type of resort you normally stay at. DVC does not save you money, but it does allow you to vacation in deluxe accomodations at a very reasonable price that, for the most part, has been "prepaid" by becoming a DVC owner. We bought just enough points to have a one bedroom every other year. We have a bit of flexibility as to how long, and which season, etc. It is our intention to only use the points @ WDW as we feel it provides the best value. Just crunch the numbers a little and see if it works for you.

 

[JudyS]

Originally posted by MAGICX2
Checked out Markrg's MH pics in a reply. I am new to this, only my second post. Just wondered if this is some kind of members only party or what. What is this and what other types of members only benefits do you get with DVC? Any and all answers helpful trying to make decission about joining. Thanks!!!

Anyone can join the DVC, but it isn't cheap! The DVC (Disney Vacation Club) is Disney's timeshare system, although DVC members tend to be *much* more satisfied that owners of other timeshares.

The way the DVC works is that you pay money upfront to buy a DVC points contract. This gives you an allocation of points each year that can be spent on rooms at the DVC resorts. The number of points needed per night depends on which resort you are staying at, and on the size of the room, the day of the week, and the time of year.

Each year, you also have to pay dues that cover the cost of operating and maintaining the resort.

It is also possible to rent points from a DVC members, to try out the DVC resorts without buying a contract.

DVC members also get some discounts on restaurants and a few other things, but the main DVC benefit is the room.

There is a DVC FAQ available; look at the top of the page.

Hope this helps!

 

[Dean]

If you know up front you want those options, buy less points and pay cash for them. You'll be far better off in the long run if you do. Buy only the number of points you will use at DVC with a modest cushion depending on your planned trip and unit type.

 

[MAGICX2]

Thanks for the reply Judy S. I have been researching for several weeks now and I pretty much have the basics down. I was looking more for info on MarkRG's pics he posted of some really neat gifts he received for attending some kind of special function at WDW(?). They were all DVC gifts and he said they were waiting for him in his room each night when he returned. I just wondered what kind of "perks" you get as a DVC member. Thanks!!

 

[pogopossum]

once a year they have members homecoming weekend, with special events and gifts for dvc members. i looked at those pictures and as far as i can tell those are the special gifts that they give. i have some friends at church that went to mh and next time i see them i'll ask about the gifts.

 

[jmminarik]

Originally posted by Dean
If you know up front you want those options, buy less points and pay cash for them. You'll be far better off in the long run if you do. Buy only the number of points you will use at DVC with a modest cushion depending on your planned trip and unit type.

Generally good advice. But also be prepared to buy more points if you get hooked. It happens sometimes.

I think the only thing most people here agree on is that DVC is best used to stay at DVC resorts. Everyone comes up with their own economic justifications for buying (or not), but so far this is the only almost absolute I've read here. Well, there's also the fact that the WDW DVC resorts are in WDW and generally speaking, that's the point of DVC so it's not just economics, it's also being at WDW.

The way we view the non-DVC options are as options for the occasional non-WDW vacation. We don't plan on using them outside of the DVC world, but we might occassionally do so over the next 38 or so years. Some people would rent their points and then pay cash. Some people won't and just use points...it's not worth the hassle. Some people rent rooms for cash on the weekends, some people don't. Everyone's different. DVC is nice in that you have these options.

-Joe

 

[DB Washington]

Well, my husband and I have been members since 2001, so we've only been members for a short while. However, I really like the flexability that owning with DVC offers. When we don't want to vacation at WDW (blasphemy, I know), we rent our points out. We are allotted 200 points a year, our annual dues are around $850, so if we rent at $10/point the $1150 goes towards whatever vacation we want to go on. I know some folks don't like to rent their points out, but we have had a generally good experience doing this and really don't find it very burdensome.

I guess the short of it is, owning DVC forces my husband and I to take a vacation every year or rent our points out and use the money for a vacation. This isn't something I really thought about before we bought, but I am glad it works this way.

Also, when we do vacation at WDW, there is no better way to stay on site for the money. I don't think using your points for a cruise or a non DVC property like a WDW hotel is a good use of points. My husband and I went on a cruise with Norweigan this year that we paid for with rented points and we are going to Disney this December. If we used our points to take a cruise we would not have been able to vacation at WDW in the same year.

Just MHO. Hope this helps.

 

[OneMoreTry]

It's not worth buying into DVC to use the points at other WDW hotels like Poly, Contemporary, Grand floridian, etc. You would be better off to look for discounts.

It's worth buying if you want to stay at DVC resorts and only occasional stays at the hotels.